999 teams learned from my brother’s death
61-YEAR-OLD BLED TO DEATH WAITING FOR PARAMEDICS
AMBULANCE crews have vowed to learn from the case of tragic dad Jimmy Quinn, who bled to death waiting for paramedics.
The popular 61-year-old suffered serious injuries to his arm when he fell on a glass cabinet at his Washington home. Mr Quinn was able to call 999 himself and asked for an ambulance.
But a coroner heard that a series of errors and a breakdown in communication meant paramedics did not enter Mr Quinn’s home until an hour after his initial call.
And he later died in hospital as a result of injuries that the inquest was told would have been “survivable” had Mr Quinn been treated sooner.
The North East Ambulance Service has apologised to Mr Quinn’s family and vowed to learn lessons from his death. The service says it has reviewed the way it works with police and the fire service to improve the way it reaches patients in emergencies and make sure paramedics can access patients quicker. Crews’ training has also been reviewed.
A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service said: “We would like to repeat our apologies to Mr Quinn’s family and continue to offer our condolences to them.
“There were a number of lessons learned from this case, including reviewing the joint working arrangements with Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Northumbria Police and Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service.
“We have shared the findings of our own investigation into this case with the Coroner’s Office and also provided feedback to the staff involved. With any serious case like this, we also review our training and guidance to crews, where appropriate, to see if any updates are necessary.”
Mr Quinn’s sister Joanne has welcomed the changes, but she told the Chronicle she no longer trusts the emergency services herself.
The 64-year-old said: “It is comforting to know they have learned from it, but it’s just too little too late.
“It is bittersweet knowing he could still be here, but I wouldn’t want to see anyone else go through this.
“If something happened to me now I would just try to get myself to hospital. You put your trust in 999, they are supposed to be a caring profession.”
Mr Quinn, who lived alone in Washington, fell on the china cabinet, which had belonged to his late mother, on the evening of July 1, 2016.
The aging glass shattered, causing serious injuries to his arm.
At an inquest in December 2018, Gateshead and South Tyneside coroner Terence Carney heard how Mr Quinn called 999 at 7.05pm
But the operator could not make out his address.
Despite asking a team leader to listen to a recording of the call, she failed to record a vital piece of information about the seriousness of Mr Quinn’s injuries, which should have triggered immediate dispatch of an ambulance, to arrive at Mr Quinn’s home in eight minutes or less.
Former painter and decorator Mr Quinn made a second 999 call at 7.22pm and spoke to a different call handler. This time the call was graded correctly.
But Mr Quinn told the operator he could not get to the door, which was locked, and that he kept passing out.
At this point the North East Ambulance Service contacted Northumbria Police and it was confirmed that officers would be sent to Mr Quinn’s home to help paramedics get in, the inquest heard.
However, when the message was passed on to Northumbria Police there was once again a misinterpretation, and a police officer made the decision not to attend immediately, believing the ambulance service would make further contact if they required help. The inquest also heard the police failed to grade their response appropriately.
When the paramedics, who had not been trained in forced entries, arrived, they decided not to force entry to the property themselves as they mistakenly believed it would be unsafe and illegal to do so, the coroner heard.
Tragically, Dr Peter Goode, consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine, told the coroner that Mr Quinn’s injuries would have been “survivable” had he received prompt assessment and treatment before around 7.45pm.
But by that point, the police had still not been dispatched, and the paramedics were waiting outside of the property under the belief they would be arriving imminently.
By the time the officers arrived and broke into the property it was just after 8pm. Jimmy’s injuries had become fatal and he later died in hospital.
Delivering a narrative verdict, Mr Carney said: “Due to a failure to send an ambulance earlier and a failure by police to respond promptly to a request for attendance, there was a time critical delay in the delivery of essential medical care, and Mr Quinn died from otherwise potentially survivable injuries inadvertently sustained in a fall.”
Chief Supt Sarah Pitt, of Northumbria Police, said the force had also learned from Mr Quinn’s death.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the family and friends of James Quinn at this extremely difficult time,” she said. “The inquest into Mr Quinn’s tragic death clearly raised learning points for both Northumbria Police and North East Ambulance Service.
“I would like to give assurances that steps have already been taken to address the issues which led to the delay in treatment being administered. This includes new procedures with the relevant agencies around gaining access to properties when someone requires medical assistance.
“The force also referred a complaint about the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and, while its investigation concluded there was no case to answer for misconduct, failings were identified which we have addressed.”
Joanne Quinn said learning her brother’s death was avoidable has left the family heartbroken.
“He was trying to get to the door. I think he must have been thinking he was going to get help,” she said.
“We just can’t come to terms with it because it was avoidable.”